The present invention relates generally to hydrotreating processes and units, and more particularly to hydrotreating processes and units that are configured and arranged for hydrotreating a hydrocarbon feed, such as vacuum gas oil (VGO).
Hydrotreating is a hydroprocessing process used to remove heteroatoms such as sulfur and nitrogen from hydrocarbon streams to meet fuel specifications and to saturate olefinic compounds. Hydrotreating can be performed at high or low pressures, but is typically operated at lower pressure than hydrocracking.
During the hydrotreating process, hydrogen is contacted with hydrocarbon in the presence of suitable catalysts which are primarily active for the removal of heteroatoms, such as sulfur, nitrogen and metals from the hydrocarbon feedstock. Hydrotreating processes whose primary focus is the removal of sulfur are often referred to as hydrosulfurization processes. In hydrotreating, hydrocarbons with double and triple bonds may be saturated. Aromatics may also be saturated. Some hydrotreating processes are specifically designed to saturate aromatics.